Athens In Photos

Some photos from Athens!

We are famous!  Fulbrighters in the Athens News on June 27.  I'm third from the right.

The name says it all.  Enter here to alleyways full of shops.

Just outside the Athens Flea Market

A boundary stone to the Agora (marketplace/civic center) of ancient Athens.  The ancient Greek writing is easier to read after pouring water on the stone.

This caption explains the following two photos.  Jury selection in ancient Athens!

Jury selection: I wonder if they had a "one day or one trial" system?!  I don't think so!

Citizen tokens for jury selection.  Come to think of it, I would never be selected for jury service because I would never have been a citizen.  After all, I'm a woman.

Archaeological work being done just outside the Agora.  Notice the train whizzing by in the background!
Old meets new...

Greece!

I have a poster of this pot in my classroom.

But I never imagined it was this big!  If I had wanted to, I could have given this pot a hug.  It's just standing there in the midst of the room!  (Well, the security personnel stationed in that room might have taken me away, had I tried...)

So, who is this guy (the following two photos)?  You decide!  All I can tell you is that this image appears in the social studies text book that we use at school.  My old friend!  

Zeus?  Poseidon?

It looks like he's throwing a lighting bolt to me.  However, in the very next room there is an enormous marble statue of a man that looks almost exactly like this one (except that his left arm is missing), and that statue is labeled as "Poseidon."  Hmmmm....

Another fabulous bronze statue

Bronze!!

The Greek Parliament building.  The place where all the action took place during the days preceding June 28.

Can someone read these signs for me?  I know they are protesting the austerity measures, but it would be nice to know what, exactly, the signs say.  Syntagma Square was full of signs like these.

Protests make for good business opportunities.  This fellow set up shop on one of the streets bordering Syntagma Square.

My golden ticket to the Embassy event in Athens

Kalispera!

Syntagma Square at night

Dance!

Don't try this at home...

The grand finale

The view of the ancient Agora and the Temple of Haphaestus as seen from the road to the Acropolis

At the propyle (entrance door) to the ancient Acropolis.  This just gets me inside the fortified part of the acropolis (city on the hill).  I'm still quite a long way from the Parthenon.

Another section of the Acropolis, where ancient travelers could bath and relax after climbing the Panathenian road thus far.

Pantelic marble was used to construct the buildings on the Acropolis (and many other structures in ancient Greece).  As the marble ages it turns this lovely, golden/honey color that almost glows.

The Acropolis is literally littered with sections of columns and other construction material.  Putting this giant puzzle back together is an enormous undertaking.

Working on the frieze at the corner of the Parthenon.  Would you like this job?

Columns!

A sea of buildings in modern Athens stretch as far as the eye can see from all directions of the Acropolis. 

View from the restaurant in the New Acropolis Museum